WWE Slapped With Lawsuit For Stealing ‘Bloodline’ Gesture

WWE has seen a lot of lawsuits over the years. They keep a legendary team of legal minds on retainer for a reason. Now, they are subject to another lawsuit from somewhere in the pro wrestling world.

Nathaniel Tatha-Nanandji, who promoted WCWA Wrestling in Arkansas, has filed a lawsuit against WWE, its corporate owner TKO, WWE video game licensee 2K Games, and several related 2K entities. PWInsider.com reports the case was filed on December 30, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Western Division of Arkansas, Fayetteville Division.

The 30-page complaint states that Tatha-Nanandji handled WCWA’s creative direction, booking, staging, filming, and publishing. It alleges that beginning around August 2019, he developed a repeatable visual sequence for a WCWA faction called Tier 1. This faction used a pose that was very close to the Bloodline gesture.

The filing outlines a multi-step sequence built around a deliberate pause, camera-facing formation, staggered arm raises with a single finger extended, and a held tableau designed to convey hierarchy and control. The lawsuit stresses he is not claiming ownership of any single gesture, but of the full sequence as a protected audiovisual work.

"Through these direct and indirect channels, including internal scouting review and publicly accessible WCWA content on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, WWE and its affiliates had a reasonable opportunity to view, study, and copy the Tier 1 Audiovisual Sequence prior to and during Defendants' development and exploitation of substantially similar audiovisual content."

The lawsuit then alleges goes on to allege that The Bloodline angle went on to cause this legal action. They laid out their points in clear order.

"On information and belief, beginning in or around September 2021, after Plaintiff had created and publicly used the Tier 1 Audiovisual Sequence, WWE introduced a visually and narratively similar ritualized audiovisual sequence for its 'Bloodline' faction (the 'Bloodline Sequence').

As deployed in WWE programming, the Bloodline Sequence consists of a coordinated audiovisual progression that includes, in combination:
a. Bloodline members aligning together in a deliberate, hierarchical formation oriented toward the primary broadcast camera;
b. A brief, intentional timing pause during which the formation is held;
c. A lead cue initiated by a designated member, followed by staggered but synchronized arm raises by the remaining members, each extending a single finger upward; and
d. A sustained, static, camera-facing tableau functioning as the climactic moment of acknowledgment within the segment."

According to the filing, Tatha-Nanandji registered copyrights for two WCWA videos, “Monsters and Men: Xander Gold vs Brian Cage Oct ’19” and “WCWA Rematch: Purge 1 Double D vs Dusty Gold,” which were issued by the U.S. Copyright Office in September 2025.

The lawsuit also claims WWE later licensed the alleged sequence for use in the WWE 2K video game series. Tatha-Nanandji says he first noticed the similarities in January 2024 and notified the defendants in October 2025 that he was asserting WCWA’s common law trademark and trade dress rights.

Tatha-Nanandji is seeking a jury trial and a declaration that the defendants infringed on his WCWA copyrights. He is also asking for a permanent injunction, removal of the material from WWE programming and WWE 2K games, damages and profits tied to the alleged infringement, full financial accounting, destruction of the material, attorney’s fees, and corrective advertising to address consumer confusion.

Public records show WCWA was formed in Springdale, Arkansas, in 2012 and is listed as still active on Tatha-Nanandji’s LinkedIn page, though its website has not been updated in years. Upon looking a bit into things, it seems that WCWA’s Facebook page was last updated in May 2021, its YouTube channel stopped posting in April 2021, and a Google listing marks the Springdale address as permanently closed. Court records indicate the defendants have not yet been served as of this writing.

We will keep a close eye on this case to see if there are any updates. You never know what will happen in the pro wrestling world. WWE also has a way of winning a lot of the lawsuits that come their way through a variety of maneuvers in the legal arena.

What’s your take on this new lawsuit against WWE? Do you believe that the indie promoter stands a chance? Let us know what you think in the comments section!